Mexico probing if US violated sovereignty in 2024 druglord capture

MEXICO CITY: Mexico said Tuesday it is investigating whether its sovereignty was violated by the United States in the 2024 capture of druglord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

The inquiry comes after the FBI displayed in an exhibition the plane used to bring most-wanted Zambada, co-founder of the notorious Sinaloa cartel, to the United States.

“If one of the US agencies participated in this operation, they would be violating international treaties and the (Mexican) constitution,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said at her daily press conference.

Zambada was arrested in the United States in July 2024 alongside Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of Sinaloa cartel co-founder Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is also imprisoned.

When Guzman Lopez pled guilty to US narcotrafficking charges last December, he admitted to having kidnapped Zambada to bring him to the US — a betrayal meant to win favour with US authorities.

The US Embassy in Mexico said in 2024 that no US agency had participated in the operation, Mexican government secretary Rosa Icela Rodriguez told the morning news conference.

“The versions are contradictory. Someone lied,” she said.

The war between factions of the Sinaloa cartel unleashed after the arrest of Zambada has left thousands dead and disappeared.